全美就业力城市之西雅图
Seattle takes the top overall spot in the Robert Half Career City Index, driven by a strong performance in the Career Prospects and Cost of Living categories, which have the highest weights in the Index. Seattle’s robust economic and employment growth have been spurred by a surging information technology industry, as well as its strong biotechnology, aerospace, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Global giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Costco and Boeing, among others, have been attracting top talent to the greater Seattle area. Additionally, compared with the East Coast and other West Coast cities (San Francisco and Los Angeles), the Seattle metro area has traditionally had a lower cost of living, although this has been changing. A large share of individuals with college degrees (ranked first for Educational Attainment) and high incomes (ranked third for Median Income), combined with Seattle’s relatively lower costs of living (ranked first in the category), make the city a prime target for young entrepreneurs, technology developers and families. Much of Seattle’s technology growth has come from expansion by Amazon, Microsoft and Expedia, as well as the development of satellite offices for Facebook, Google and Salesforce, within and around the surrounding area. Once Amazon’s new global headquarters is complete, its employment capacity will approach 30,000 in a city of around 635,000 people. 9 The city ranks 25th in the Quality of Life category, driven by last place rankings in Number of Sunny Days and Rental Vacancy Rate — surely a consequence of the Pacific Northwest’s cloudy weather coupled with the city’s lack of preparedness for the rapid influx of new residents. Surprisingly, these do not affect the city’s overall score enough to knock it from the top spot.